Barça squad named for El Clásico

Ernesto Valverde has called up 19 players for Sunday’s big game

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The biggest game of the season so far has arrived as the leaders of La Liga welcome Real Madrid for the first El Clásico of 2018-19 at Camp Nou, and Ernesto Valverde has called upon the following 19 players to be part of the squad for this one*:

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Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen 13. Jasper Cillessen

Defenders: 2. Nélson Semedo, 3. Gerard Piqué, 15. Clément Lenglet, 18. Jordi Alba, 36. Chumi

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Denis Suarez, 7. Philippe Coutinho, 8. Arthur, 12. Rafinha, 20. Sergi Roberto, 22. Arturo Vidal

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 11. Ousmane Dembélé, 14. Malcom, 19. Munir

*Because only 18 players can be in uniform, one of these 19 will be cut from the final squad. The favorites: Denis, Malcom, Chumi.

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Lionel Messi, Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen miss out with injury once again, while Carles Aleñá and Sergi Samper are not in the squad per the manager’s choice.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur; Rafinha, Suárez, Coutinho

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The game kicks off at 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm BST (UK), 11.15am ET, 8.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

VISCA EL BARÇA!!!

Source: barcablaugranes.com